Given the fact that hail was a rare occurrence in the middle of peak summer season, most locals were of the opinion that in the long term it was a matter of concern. PHOTO: EMRAN ABBAS/EXPRESS
Given the fact that hail was a rare occurrence in the middle of peak summer season, most locals were of the opinion that in the long term it was a matter of concern for them.
Rise in global temperatures and unpredictable weather conditions have turned into a global phenomenon due to man-made factors.
Pakistan is among the top 10 the countries most affected by climate change.
A day longer
Global warming and subsequent climate change, caused by multiple environmental hazards, has changed the weather conditions in Pakistan shrinking the cold bit-by-bit.
It was shocking to know when an expert revealed that the climate change is causing one-day addition in the summer season of the country every year.
“Around 15 years ago, Pakistan’s summer season spanned over 145 days (almost five months), but now it is about 170 days, which means more or less one-day addition per year,” according to weather expert Dr Muhammad Hanif.
He said environmental degradation because of multiple factors including less greenery, increased industrial and different chemical emissions was prolonging the summer season and shrinking the winters.
Hanif said climate change in the country had badly affected the agriculture sector and advised the growers to follow expert guidelines before cultivating any crop for better yields.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Climate Change Muhammad Saleem told APP that in the recent years, the impacts of climate change on the country’s realms of socio-economic activity had grown intense.
“We are already in the grip of shifting and unreliable winter and summer rainfall patterns, devastating floods, droughts, landslides, land and river erosions, rapidly melting glaciers,” he said.
Saleem said Pakistan was bound to witness an increase in intensity and frequency in impact of climate change.
Citing some of the reasons of environmental degradation, he said,surging population growth, unsustainable sprawling growth in urban areas,unchecked deforestation were exacerbating the effects of global warming-induced climate change in the country. “These very issues are making natural disasters hard to manage,” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 30th, 2016.
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